Computer Associates executives plead guilty
CEO and head of sales plead guilty in accounting fraud trial
Former Computer Associates chief Sanjay Kumar and co-defendant, former head
of sales, Stephen Richards, have pled guilty to fraud, perjury and obstruction
of justice charges in relation to the $2.2bn (£1.2bn) accounting fraud at the
company in 2004.
The two are accused of engaging in ‘systemic, company-wide practice of
falsely and fraudulently recording and reporting’ quarterly revenues associated
with licence agreements’, Computer Weekly reported.
The obstruction of justice charges related to claims that, through false
statements and concealment of information, Kumar and Richards interfered with
government investigations into alleged fraudulent accounting.
Kumar is also accused of erasing his laptop’s hard drive to destroy potential
evidence.
Computer Associates, now renamed ‘CA’, was forced to republish five years of
accounts and also agreed to pay $225m (£126m) to settle with federal
prosecutors.
Kumar and Richards’ trial is scheduled to begin on 8 May